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Roadshow: Landscape With Drums: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle Review

I liked this book. I read it over several months as I'm a slow reader. I've been a fan for thirty years. He has been a huge influence in my life. I was very impressed at how well he can write narrative. Neil ferociously hates Florida. After awhile I realized what a lark he was on leaving everyone to do the lifting while he toured the country between concert dates as he pleased. Guess that's one of the perks.

He was obsessive about mentioning the exact distance driven each day, exact numbers of fans in each concert hall. He would have narrative journal notes referenced in the context of the narrative he wrote in the book. Sometimes that was eerily repetitive. By the end of the book he proudly counted up tens of thousands of words in his journal notes AND how many words were in the book. I was blown away by this degree of unnecessary detail. But it tells you something. It did not focus enough on Rush life, except for the experience of sleeping on buses, and other incidentals.

Otherwise it held my attention and was interesting to take in. And to get inside Neil's head. That's something. Again, it was well-written. If it wasn't Neil Peart, it would have been a different story.

Roadshow: Landscape With Drums: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle Overview

Neil Peart is an internationally acclaimed, bestselling, and award-nominated author, and for more than thirty years has been the legendary drummer and lyricist for the band Rush. For decades, Neil prepared and waited to write a book about the biggest journey of all in his restless existence, his ultimate travelogue - a concert tour. Finally, the right time and the right tour: Rush's 30th anniversary trek -- 9 countries, 57 shows, and 500,000 fans.

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Customer Reviews

another fine peart novel - Erick Casher - chicago, il
Repetetive as it may sound, this is yet another fine read from Neil Peart the novelist. He makes the transition appear seemless. hopefully he will choose to continue to publish his thoughts, travels and memoirs.

Moments of brilliance - but a little convoluted - DigitalMan -
First, I am a major RUSH fan, and have been for over 20 years. I found Neil Peart's book, "Ghost Rider," to be an amazingly poignant, and heartfelt book. Having a recent death in my family, this book really helped me get through that period of time in my own life.

In "Roadshow," Neil's descriptions, whether of what he is observing in nature, or how he describes music, are absolutely stunning when you take them as individual passages. The book taken as a total "story" though is a difficult read. A good analogy might be that a less skilled drummer tries to demonstrate their skill everywhere they can, sometimes goes off on "tangents," and often misses the "big picture" i.e., the song as an entity. Neil's writing style probably echoes how he was as an early drummer: Moments of brilliance, but a little disconnected from the big picture (which clearly isn't the case through most of his career with RUSH).

He often interjects what is happening in the present, with retrospective passages about prior adventures in the same location with his beloved friend Brutus, or other friends. This happens often and frequently in the book, and hurts the continuity. I would have liked to see more about his current experiences with RUSH as a band member replacing these retrospective passages. Additionally, Neil has a tendency to write pages and pages of the history of a given location; which is somewhat distracting in the sense that it takes you out of being able to live vicariously though Neil's "present" adventure, as he tells it in the book.

Another issue I have with the writing (or rather, more of Neil's personal attitude) is the inclusion (multiple times) of fans who were "rude" and "invasive." I can see mentioning maybe one example in the book, but this is an issue that clearly disturbs Neil as it was brought up a number of times. Not being a world famous musician, I of course can't relate to this kind of viewpoint, as when you are a rock drummer who relies on people buying your product, you should be a little more gracious. I found Neil's comments about fans, etc. a little (no, I mean a LOT) standoff-ish. If I was at a truck stop, and saw Neil Peart hanging out next to his BMW I would absolutely introduce myself (as a fellow human being and not some sort of "rabid fan,") mention I am a huge fan, and congratulate him on reaching a height of expertise in a given craft that few rarely achieve in life. Being a bass player in my own right for 25 years now, I appreciate what it takes to be THAT good at something, and Neil's contribution to music is just amazing.

Finally, and I am not sure this is an issue with the original manuscript, or the Kindle, but there are dozens of typos in the book.

All that said, I look forward to his next book, but suggest that it be a little more concise, and a little less standoffish.

Great read. Peart makes even the hum drum interesting... - bluebobber - danville california ca
This is the second Neil Peart book I have read after the very different and emotionally more intense Ghost Rider. I read the books as an avid motorcyclist first and a music fan second although i have to admit that i know the square root of nothing about Rush and i have honestly never listened to a single one of their songs never mind an album. I also have no interest whatsoever in seeing them or hearing them. I say this to make the point that this writing stands out on its own. The book does really major on the events of the road trip versus the bands tour. But there is enough there for true Rush fans and great insight into the lifestyle of a professional musician of this high standard. I don't really understand how he makes the mundane interesting. The book really is a page turner. It is interesting to read of his occasional difficulty dealing with fans and gatherings of friends and admirers. This seems a wee bit odd given his profession and jars a bit since the fans put him in the position he enjoys today. I know he knows that and also knows that "fan is short for fanatic" as well. Another high quality book from Mr Peart.

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Saturday, August 28, 2010